Glad to hear Coco is back to being "himself". I don't particularly like that phrase as this new persona he had on for those 10 weeks is also "himself".
I know that TD is just a cockatiel, a far smaller birdy (with a much smaller beak for biting), but since he turned a year old (on May 1st) and lost all his girlie yellow tail feathers, he has shown his multiple personalities. One of them I call Randyosaurus for obvious reasons. The other is that of Ambrose Burnside. Story soon on that side of his character. But, they are all TD.
Whether he's attacking me bcuz my hand has to come into his cage to change his papers on days we can't have fly time (our term for out of cage time...and he has never bitten me hard, though I can feel it coming), flirting with me, "doing" anything that he can stand behind, asking for tickles then immediately "attacking" my finger when I oblige, or whistling a made up song from pieces of Andy Griffith, Jingle Bells, Beethoven's 5th and Don't Worry, Be Happy" and giving kisses, or screaching incessantly.... I love him...no matter what. Just like you love Coco. Just like we all love all our birdies.
When you love someone, you want what's best for them. Because of this, I have often seriously considered rehoming TD. Living full time in an RV, especially with two dogs (one who barks at everything...day and night) means that TD often doesn't get a lot of the things people say he really needs. I doubt he has ever had 10-12 hours of undisturbed sleep in his life. I am a night owl and in an RV, you can't put him in his own room. He doesn't get to be out of the cage, just hanging out with me for hours...ever. We're lucky if he gets an hour or so out 3-4 x a week. A lot of that hour is spent cleaning his cage, rather than just spending time together. I wonder if he wouldn't have a better birdy life with someone in a more traditional style of living.
But I love him so much. I talk to him and interact with him ALL day long. He has not been out of my sight for more than a couple of hours almost his entire life. He is the happiest little creature I've ever known. I would be lost without him. The day I don't hear his little voice whistling Andy Griffith when he wakes up (which he has done every morning since he was just over two months old) will be one of the saddest days of my life.
All this notwithstanding, I am quite often sure that I am not that good of a parront. I fail miserably, so often, at so many things with him that I spend a lot of time crying about the things I mess up and the things I can't do for him. So, you're not alone in that emotional state.
Geez, looks like I wrote a chapter of a book here. Thanks for letting me vent! So glad you're doing better. Say Hi to your flock from TD and me!
I know that TD is just a cockatiel, a far smaller birdy (with a much smaller beak for biting), but since he turned a year old (on May 1st) and lost all his girlie yellow tail feathers, he has shown his multiple personalities. One of them I call Randyosaurus for obvious reasons. The other is that of Ambrose Burnside. Story soon on that side of his character. But, they are all TD.
Whether he's attacking me bcuz my hand has to come into his cage to change his papers on days we can't have fly time (our term for out of cage time...and he has never bitten me hard, though I can feel it coming), flirting with me, "doing" anything that he can stand behind, asking for tickles then immediately "attacking" my finger when I oblige, or whistling a made up song from pieces of Andy Griffith, Jingle Bells, Beethoven's 5th and Don't Worry, Be Happy" and giving kisses, or screaching incessantly.... I love him...no matter what. Just like you love Coco. Just like we all love all our birdies.
When you love someone, you want what's best for them. Because of this, I have often seriously considered rehoming TD. Living full time in an RV, especially with two dogs (one who barks at everything...day and night) means that TD often doesn't get a lot of the things people say he really needs. I doubt he has ever had 10-12 hours of undisturbed sleep in his life. I am a night owl and in an RV, you can't put him in his own room. He doesn't get to be out of the cage, just hanging out with me for hours...ever. We're lucky if he gets an hour or so out 3-4 x a week. A lot of that hour is spent cleaning his cage, rather than just spending time together. I wonder if he wouldn't have a better birdy life with someone in a more traditional style of living.
But I love him so much. I talk to him and interact with him ALL day long. He has not been out of my sight for more than a couple of hours almost his entire life. He is the happiest little creature I've ever known. I would be lost without him. The day I don't hear his little voice whistling Andy Griffith when he wakes up (which he has done every morning since he was just over two months old) will be one of the saddest days of my life.
All this notwithstanding, I am quite often sure that I am not that good of a parront. I fail miserably, so often, at so many things with him that I spend a lot of time crying about the things I mess up and the things I can't do for him. So, you're not alone in that emotional state.
Geez, looks like I wrote a chapter of a book here. Thanks for letting me vent! So glad you're doing better. Say Hi to your flock from TD and me!
